The Ambiguously Autistic Pokemon Trainer
by NewtGirl
Summary: Join the adventures of Nire Kiin, a Pokemon Trainer who even we aren't sure what exactly is wrong with her, as she travels through the Unova region!
1. You Could Totally Fry Kebobs On It

**A/N: Meh~, hello there! Well, anyway, this is pretty much what happens when I play Pokémon for roughly 6 hours straight. My brain starts to make children that want me to write them down. Meh~! Thank you for looking at this~!**

Dreams are nice, don't you think? Our friend here seems to be having one at the moment. Her dreams are beyond odd, so I think I'll spare you what she dreams about. Let's leave it at it involves a certain mascot for a fast food chain and a song called the "Get Down." To distract everyone from that mental image, it would seem, the alarm clock decided to start screaming. Our friend snapped upright like she did every morning, turning to stare blankly at the alarm clock without doing anything about it. She was just glaring. Then again, she could just be wondering what was going on. Glaring seems to be the default expression for her.

Anyway, we might as well introduce this woman. Her name is Nire Kiin. Her hair is best described as a brown rat's nest, and her eyes are a strange shade of swamp green. Due to the fact that she barely says anything and her eternal glare, most people tend to label her as creepy and keep away from her. Best not bore you, so on with the story.

Nire soon came to the realization as to why she had set her alarm, which she very rarely does. Today was the day she was supposed to get her first Pokémon with her friends. She had to start working on remembering things better in the morning. She shook her head and noticed a bright splash of color in her peripheral vision that she was about 90% certain was not there yesterday. Turning to it, she saw that it was a large, bright blue box with an oversized green bow on top. Oh, those were probably the Pokémon. Wait a minute, if they were in her room, and Professor Juniper said she'd deliver them herself, does that mean Professor Juniper was in her room, while she was asleep? …Nire didn't want to think too hard about that one.

Staring blankly at the box, Nire came to another realization as the morning grogginess began to wear off. The Pokémon were all here, with just her there. She could probably just go over to the box and take all the Pokémon for herself. All she'd have to do was take one for now, then stash the other two underneath her bed under a blanket or something so that they couldn't find them on her person. Then she could just come back for them later. But then again, was she really that horrible of a person? …That seems to change with the days.

As she started to get up to do just that, a polite knock came from her door, then a voice. "Nire, are you awake in there? If you aren't, I'm just going to knock louder until you answer the door. I want my Pokémon." Cheren always had to have timing like that, didn't he?

Plans foiled again, Nire went over to let him in. She wished for once that she didn't always sleep in her clothes. That, or that Cheren didn't know that she slept in her clothes. That way, she could've used that as an excuse to buy time for hiding the Pokémon. Thinking about it wasn't going to get her anywhere, so she just answered the door.

Cheren promptly came in and looked around for the Pokémon. Impatient as always, it seems. When he noticed the box, he started to walk towards it immediately. "Are these the Pokémon?" Nire didn't answer, but Cheren knew that she barely spoke anyway, so he wasn't fazed. He preferred her quiet, because in the rare instances when she would talk, it would always be some sort of non-sequitur that would just result in everyone staring at her for a second before choosing to ignore it. Despite his friend's stoic appearance, she was incredibly eccentric in her actions. He had once caught her building a house out of nothing but twigs, leaves, and mud, and when he asked her why she had done so, she had looked over her shoulder at him and replied "I wish to try growing berries on the roof of it." He didn't bother questioning it.

Nire was casually looking out her bedroom door, silently wondering why Bianca wasn't up here with them. Where Cheren went, Bianca followed, after all. Before she could bother checking downstairs for the missing blonde, she was almost run over by said blonde as she rushed into the room, apparently exhausted. Rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, she gave a weak laugh. "Haha, sorry I'm late, guys. I overslept a bit…" Both Nire and Cheren were not surprised in the slightest.

All of them turned their attention back to the box. Bianca was the first to pipe up. "Well, since they were delivered to Nire's house, Nire should get to pick first, right?" Her and Cheren both turned to look at the brunette, who was staring at the box in blank concentration. Cheren waved a hand near her face, thinking she was merely spacing off again. "C'mon, we don't have all day. Choose your Pokémon so the rest of us can."

In reality, she was contemplating which she should choose. Most definitely not the pig. The look on Snivy's face bothered the heck out of her, so that left her with Oshawott. What was the redeeming factor of Oshawott, though? Let's see, it evolves into Dewott, which was cool. After that, it became Samurott, which had a huge slender horn on it.

She could totally fry kebobs on that thing.

…

Without a word, Nire strode up to the box and plucked out the ball labeled Oshawott's, her eternal poker face giving no reason for her choice. Cheren came next, choosing Snivy. "I wanted Snivy from the beginning", he said. Sure, let's just go with that. Bianca took the remaining Pokémon, Tepig, which Nire personally disliked. She didn't know why, she just did.

Immediately after they had all gotten their Pokémon, Bianca turned to Nire with a smile. "We should totally have a Pokémon battle!" Cheren promptly disagreed, claiming that Nire's mother would not be thrilled to have to clean up the mess. However, Nire had already flipped her trademark jean jacket from off of her desk chair onto one shoulder, indicating that her challenge had been accepted.

Bianca was delighted, and merrily threw out her Pokémon. "Let's go, Tepig!" A bright flash of light left a small orange and black pig in its wake. Nire only stared at it with the same neutral expression, secretly letting her dislike for the pig seep through the air towards it. At least, that's how she would phrase it. The poor Tepig got the drift anyway, and began to slightly back up in fear of the girl who looked like she would take delight in squishing him into the ground. Without a word, Nire threw her own Pokéball, leaving behind a light blue and white otter with a shell on its belly. The Oshawott turned to look at its new master, only to find that she was not as kindly as he expected her to appear. Her face was drawn in a neutral frown, her eyes held dark bags underneath, and her hair was frizzed and knotted beyond belief. In other words, she looked incredibly unkempt. However, Oshawott knew that this was his master, and he was determined to try his best for her. Oshawott turned back to face his opponent, which he found to be a Tepig.

"Tepig, use Tackle!" Brave little Tepig charged forward, hitting Oshawott dead on in the stomach. Oshawott slid across the floor a ways, flinching and looking to its trainer for what it should do. She still hadn't moved her face at all, but was staring in his direction (Not at him, just in his general area) and vaguely hitting her hands together as though trying to get a meaning across. Oshawott was hit by another well-aimed Tackle while trying to comprehend the meaning of her gestures. She vaguely pointed in Tepig's direction, before smacking herself hard on the back of her opposite hand. Did she mean 'use Tackle'? Assuming this to be true, Oshawott charged forward and slammed back into Tepig, sending him flying in return. She nodded in his direction, confirming that he had done the right thing, reinstating Oshawott's sense of confidence. It would be hard to work with a trainer that can't (or won't) speak, but he would do what he could.

Nire could tell that Tepig had taken a fair amount of damage, despite it only having been one attack. She casually gave the back of her hand another hard smack, causing Oshawott to dart forward again and Tackle Tepig hard. Nire was perfectly capable of speech, but she did not like talking around strangers. Cheren and Bianca were not strangers to her, but she wanted to make sure that her Oshawott understood her method of issuing commands nonverbally before they partook in a battle against someone she didn't know.

Three more exchanges of Tackle later, and Tepig went down. Bianca looked a bit distressed at first, but quickly calmed down. "Everyone starts out weak, right?" Nire didn't respond, but instead opted to walking up to her Oshawott and scooping it up into her arms. Oshawott let out a small cry of surprise, but calmed down when he realized that his trainer was attempting to congratulate him, as awkward for her as it was. Cheren stepped up to them, quickly whipping out a Potion for Nire and a Revive for Bianca. Nire silently scolded his use of such expensive merchandise on a level 5 Pokémon, but used the Potion on Oshawott instead of making her feelings known to him.

Cheren silently secured his own Pokéball, stepping away from Nire. "Now, it's my turn to challenge you. Don't think that you two can have all the fun to yourselves!" Nire blinked slowly, before gently lowering her Oshawott back to the floor to battle once again. Oshawott looked revved up as ever, quite proud of itself for winning its first battle. Even if he had a type disadvantage against Snivy, he'd still do his best!

Cheren sent out his Snivy, and Nire immediately felt irked. That smirk just dug under her skin so much. She couldn't look at it without thinking of it giving her a trollface while she looked on in despair. As though sensing her dislike for this Pokémon as well, Oshawott tried to make itself look big, proudly displaying its scalchop, wishing to prove to his trainer that he could take care of it.

Snivy came out swinging with Tackle, making Nire inwardly sigh. This was going to be another round of trading blows of Tackles and nothing more, wasn't it? In an attempt to convey to her Oshawott that she wanted the Tackles done quickly, she smacked her hand twice in rapid succession. Oshawott looked back at her in confusion, before getting tackled himself. Quickly deciding that these commands could be practiced on wild Pokémon much easier, she went back to her old technique of one solid strike. Oshawott got the message, and went back to Tackling away.

More back and forth Tackles, and once more Nire was the victor, due only to a miss on Cheren's end. Cheren let out a grunt of irritation that he lost, but recalled his knocked out Snivy and looked about the room. The walls and floor were tracked with Pokémon prints, various bits of furniture were knocked over, and the room generally was in disarray. Nire didn't seem to either notice or care, too busy was she apparently trying to coddle her injured Oshawott. Oshawott looked somewhat freaked out that his stoic trainer was apparently cuddling him, but didn't bother trying to resist.

"Alright, we should head out to Professor Juniper's lab now. She did say she wanted us there. But first, we better tell your mom about the mess we made, Nire…" Bianca trailed off, looking about the room as well and wondered how so much mess could be made with just 3 tiny Pokémon. Nire wasn't paying attention, and simply trotted off downstairs still carrying her Oshawott. Cheren and Bianca soon followed.

Cheren was charged with the task of telling Nire's mother of the mess, because Bianca was too embarrassed and Nire was too mute. "Um, Ms. Kiin? We're sorry, but we were having some Pokémon battles upstairs, and we kind of made a mess of the place…"

"Oh, don't worry about it, dear. You all sounded like you were having fun up there! Since Nire's going to be out of the house, I'll have plenty of time to clean it up! She doesn't like having people in her room, you know." Ms. Kiin paused to look over at Nire, who was currently loading the inside pockets of her coat with various items in the kitchen area. A couple of pens and pencils, a Potion or two, her thermos filled to the brim with lime juice...The most prominent eccentricity of Nire's was her strange fondness for drinking raw lime juice. No sugar, no water, no nothing. The most looks she received were earned when she'd randomly pull out the thermos and take a swig of the stuff like it was just water. Nire paused and casually looked in the direction of the knife cabinet. A pair of much too large butcher's knives were on proud display near the top, which Nire knew her mother never used. She could never cook much other than something you pop in the microwave for 5 minutes or so. Making sure that nobody was watching, she carefully pulled the knives from their spots, along with their covers, and slipped them inside her coat pocket. She'd never stab anyone on purpose, but you never know when such things could be handy.

As the three teenagers began to head out the door after Nire had finished 'packing', Ms. Kiin grabbed Nire and held her back. "Do you really think I'll let you meet an important person with your hair like that?" Nire almost shuddered as she saw the brush in her mother's hand. Oh dear…

Cheren and Bianca did what they could to keep from laughing as Nire struggled vainly against her mother's assaults on the frizz ball that was her hair. Her mother only let up after her hair was how it was naturally; straight and down past her shoulder blades. Nire looked somewhat more in a bad mood than she normally did, while her Oshawott waddled on after her out the door. She shot Cheren and Bianca a look that simply said "Say anything and they won't be finding your corpse."

Bianca insisted that she go back to her house to get something, while Nire and Cheren went on without her. Professor Juniper's lab, which wasn't too far down the street from their houses, was a very large facility considering how small Nuvema Town was. The entire while, Nire kept glancing back over her shoulder, as though wondering what was taking Bianca so long to simply go fetch something. Cheren sighed. "If you're really so worried, you can go check on her." Nire didn't reply, but opted for scooping up her poor Oshawott once again and bolting in the direction of Bianca's house.

Nire was so accustomed to simply walking into people's houses that she didn't even bother to knock when entering Bianca's home. What she found in there was Bianca and her father having some sort of argument. They seemed to be fighting over whether Bianca should be allowed to go on an adventure or not. Due to Nire's incredible ability to not read the atmosphere at all, she casually walked in between them and snatched Bianca's forearm, fully prepared to just drag her to Juniper's lab. Bianca's father moved to stop her, but paused when he saw who exactly was doing the dragging. It was that really creepy kid who lived next door! He accidentally let out a shout, and the girl turned only her upper body towards him in a way he didn't think was humanly possible. Her dark grayish-green eyes were boring holes straight into his soul, and he suddenly felt like he wanted to back down. That kid honestly just bothered the heck out of him. H was convinced that the kid was possessed by a Banette or something.

Nire didn't fully understand why just looking at Bianca's father made him stay away, but the reason didn't matter that much to her. It working at all was the important thing. Dragging along Bianca as though it was nothing, she kept going until she met back up with Cheren, who hadn't moved an inch since she'd left. "You got what you need? Good, let's go." Cheren didn't even stop for an answer as he kept rushing on forward. Bianca managed to worm her way out of Nire's death grip in order to follow him, with Nire padding along behind her.

Professor Juniper's lab was a lot bigger on the inside than it was on the outside, but that's how it seemed for most buildings in the area. Professor Juniper was standing pretty much dead center waiting for them, but Nire was too distracted by her beehive-like hairdo to pay attention to that. "So, it seems you've chosen your Pokémon. They all seem to like you! Great!"

Oshawott let out a cry from behind Nire's leg, causing her to look down at the little guy. She assumed it simply wanted to be carried again, so she scooped it up without a second thought. Oshawott cried out again in surprise, but decided that he'd have to get used to this.

"So, do you want to give your Pokémon nicknames?" Both Cheren and Bianca refused after some thought, but Nire was staring down her Oshawott in concentration. Oshawott felt nervous under her glare, even though she probably meant well. After a while of waiting on her answer, she placed Oshawott back on the ground and put her head up, still not directly looking at anyone. "Monk."

"Eh?"

"Monk."

Nobody was exactly sure where that name came from, but they didn't bother questioning the strange teenager. "Alright then, now for the reason I called you all here. This-"She held out a small gray and red device with a Pokéball pattern on it, "-is a Pokédex. It's like a high-tech Pokémon encyclopedia! I want you three to each take one and try to fill it up for me." Bianca looked thrilled, while both Nire and Cheren didn't change facial expression, however internally thrilled they were. They all took one of the Pokédexes laid out on the table behind Professor Juniper; Bianca taking a white one, Cheren the black one, and Nire taking the remaining gray from Juniper's hand. "To help you with that, I'm going to show you three how to catch Pokémon! Meet me out on Route 1, would you?" And with that, she walked passed them and out the door, apparently believing they would follow closely behind. Bianca took off immediately, Cheren a little while later, and with Nire taking her sweet time drifting far behind the others. As her and Monk began walking, Nire looked down at her Pokémon with her usual unreadable expression.

"…Tell me…Do you like kebobs?"

"Osha?"

**A/N: Meh~! Wow, didn't think I would finish the first chapter. There are a couple of things I want to point out right now, though; please don't call me out about there being limes. I almost changed it to Belue berries, which are also really sour, but it just looked awkward. If there was a berry based off limes, I would use that, but nope. =3= Also, the name Monk is just random. Nire doesn't have complex logic on that one; Oshawott just looks like a Monk to her. :D Anyway, I haven't decided on Nire's team yet (Only one other Pokémon besides Monk I know for certain will be there, and they only appear late in the game), so I most definitely don't mind putting it up for the readers to decide~! Go ahead and leave any Pokémon in Generation 5 (non-legendary, mind you) that you'd like to see Nire using in a review, 'cause 4 slots are open in her team~! Also, now that I read what I wrote, Nire sounds kind of autistic, don't she? =3= Anyway, thanks for reading, dearies~! The next chapter will be up…maybe next weekend?**


	2. Two Autistics Don't Mix Well, Apparently

**A/N: Meh~! I take forever to update. I am terrible. =3= Anyway, there is only one slot left on Nire team that's still open, so send that last one in~! Thanks for reading!**

They almost had to send Cheren to go fetch Nire since she was taking so long, but she rounded the bend pretty much right when they were about to, scratching behind Monk's ears as though she hadn't kept them waiting. Relieved that she could final get on with it, Professor Juniper pulled out a Pokéball and turned to the tall grass. "Now that everyone's here, I'll explain. The Pokédex's pages update automatically when you meet a new Pokémon. You get even more info when you catch the Pokémon. Therefore, I'm going to demonstrate how to catch a Pokémon!" She walked into the grass a ways, and stopped when a light brown prairie dog-like Pokémon jumped out in front of her. Professor Juniper smiled. "Alright, here's a Patrat now. Go, Minccino!" She threw her Pokéball, and out popped a gray colored chinchilla.

"Minccino, Pound!" Minccino scampered forward, delivering a punch with its tiny hands to the wild Patrat. The Patrat fell backwards a bit, before rolling and getting back up again. "Alright, now let's try and catch it!" Professor Juniper pulled out a second Pokéball, presumably empty, and threw it at the Patrat. The Patrat did not put up that much of a fight, going down with only that one ball. Smiling triumphantly, Professor Juniper plucked the ball off the ground. "And that's how it's done!"

Bianca seemed really into it, watching Professor Juniper intently. Cheren already knew how to, so didn't pay attention that much. Nire…who knows. "Now, everyone, here are 5 Pokéballs for each of you. I'll see you in Accumula Town, so I can show you around!" And with that, Professor Juniper walked off through the tall grass without looking back. Bianca turned to the others with a smile on her face. "Hey, we should have a Pokémon catching contest! The one who can catch the most Pokémon before reacting Accumula Town wins! Alright, let's go!" Bianca took off into the grass before getting a reply. Cheren sighed. "We might as well go along with it." Nire didn't reply.

Nire waited until Cheren had left to begin. The first thing she came across was a small puppy-like Pokémon. She had no intention of using it on her team, but she would catch it for the sole sake of this little contest.

It had only taken a couple of blows from Monk and a well-timed Pokéball to bring the Lillipup under her jurisdiction. Placing the now full Pokéball into one of the many pockets of her jean jacket, she set off in search of the other Pokémon she knew to be on this route, Patrat.

Showing up a half an hour after the others at the entrance to Accumula Town, Nire now held three Pokémon in her possession. Lillipup after Lillipup had jumped out at her, and she had almost given up on her search for a Patrat until she had caught one off guard and caught it before it had a chance to fight back. Bianca rushed up to her, willing to forgive the brunette's lateness. "How many Pokémon did you catch, Nire?" Nire let out her two new Pokémon, letting Monk down to join them. "Wow, three? That means you won!" Had the others not bothered to catch both Pokémon on the route? She supposed they probably had no luck finding a Patrat as well, and left it alone.

Right as she thought that, all of their Xtransceivers began to ring at once. Nire had to fumble through her pockets a bit before finding hers, and they silently seemed to agree on answering at the same time. Turns out that the Professor was calling all of them, and they were automatically put into a conference call. "Hello! How is everybody doing? You and your Pokémon are getting along well now, right?"

Bianca was the first to respond. "Oh, hi, Professor!"

Professor Juniper didn't bother answering. "Right now, I'm in front of the Accumula Town Pokémon Center! I'd like to show you around, so hurry on over, everyone!" And with that, the Xtransceivers all disconnected at the same time.

Bianca and Cheren both headed off before Nire, mostly because they knew Nire loved to take her sweet time with everything. She casually recalled her Pokémon besides Monk and began strolling along her path, humming a random melody to herself. While she liked being alone, she hated silence.

When she arrived at the Pokémon Center, neither Bianca or Cheren were anywhere in sight, but Juniper was waiting patiently outside the doors for her. Nire assumed that the others were already inside, and tried to pass by Juniper without hearing what she had to say. Juniper did not see this coming, probably because she hadn't known Nire for that long, and had to move to stop her from going the whole way in. "Whoa, whoa, wait a sec! What's rushing you so much? Anyway, this is the Pokémon Center. You can always tell it by the bright red roof! Let's go on in!" She tried to lead Nire in by the wrist, but nearly received a kick in the abdomen for her trouble. Nire really did not like being touched.

When they went inside, Nire noticed that Cheren was still nowhere to be found, but Bianca was peering curiously over the back counter, apparently trying to examine the healing apparatus behind the pink-haired nurse. "Don't you feel better the instant you walk through the door?" Not particularly. Juniper walked up to the counter, Nire lagging behind as she always did. Bianca noticed them and ran over to Juniper's side, insisting that she didn't want to be left out. Juniper explained how the people here would heal your Pokémon up fully for free, but Nire wasn't paying that much attention. She was more staring at the T.V. screen across the room, more specifically at the Pokémon being displayed. She couldn't find the words to describe it, but she wanted that thing for herself. She wouldn't stop until she found it.

Anyway, she was snapped out of it by Bianca calling her over to another counter, this one blue and along a different wall."This is the Pokémart, where you can buy and sell items. You can get a lot of useful items from here!" She already knew all of this, but she didn't feel rude enough to just walk off when Juniper was on a roll.

"Well, that's all I have to teach you. I'm going back to the lab now. Also, do me a favor. When you get to Striaton City, go and see an inventor named Fennel. She's a good friend of mine. See you both later!" And with that, Juniper took her leave. Bianca became preoccupied with the Pokémart's wares, and Nire was just left wondering what to do. Monk wasn't in bad shape at all, so she saw no need in healing him. She could go deposit her Patrat and Lillipup into the PC, but she had spaced off when Juniper had been explaining it. That left only heading on outside.

Heading only right out the Pokémon Center's doors, she immediately heard a little of two people's conversation. "Sounds like something is going on in the plaza!" Nire wasn't exactly sure where this plaza was, but she could always follow the crowd. She really did not like crowds, but that was beside the point.

Nire made sure to stick a ways behind the two men she'd overheard as she trailed them to the plaza, which turned out not to be too far away. When she got there, she found a good-sized crowd had already built up. Bother. She made certain to stay to the outside of the crowd, for lack of a better word too afraid to go into the crowd itself. She soon caught sight of Cheren and chose to stick near him when he called her over. Looking up to the stage, she found that there were a group of people in the wonkiest uniforms she had ever seen, standing in a straight line facing the crowd with banners waving in the wind on either side of them. One of the many moved out of the way, and a man in a large billowing cape stepped out from behind the row. She immediately didn't like him. His expression unnerved her, and that right there is an accomplishment. "My name is Ghetsis. I am here to represent Team Plasma." What kind of name is that? "Today, ladies and gentlemen," She internally shuddered when she saw him ghost his eyes in her direction, "I would like to talk to you about Pokémon liberation." The crowd started chatting to each other confusedly over what he had just said. Cheren just gave a brief look of confusion in her direction, which she did not reciprocate.

'Ghetsis' began to pace back and forth across the stage. "I'm sure most of you believe that Pokémon and humans are partners, working for mutual benefit. However…is that really the truth? Have you ever considered that humans only assume this to be true?" He paced some more. "Pokémon are forced to follow the commands of selfish Trainers…They get pushed around when they are supposed 'partners' in our work… Can anyone say with confidence that there is no truth in what I'm saying?" The crowd had a bit of a tizzy, most refusing to believe and a few looking what she believed to be unsure of themselves. Nire was notoriously bad at reading people.

"Now, Pokémon are different than humans. They have a power with unknown amounts of potential. They are living creatures that humans have much to learn from. Tell me, what is our responsibility to the wonderful beings called Pokémon?" One brave member of the crowd tried to answer. "Liberation?"

"That's right! We must liberate the Pokémon! Then and only then will humans and Pokémon be truly equal. People of Accumula, I end my speech here today by imploring you to reconsider the relationship between humans and Pokémon, and the correct way to proceed. We thank you for your time." The uniformed people marched precisely into a box pattern around Ghetsis, folding up the banners and filing away in the direction of Route 2. The crowd mulled over his words, wondering if he was right or not, but dispersing before trying to find a solution in a group. The only ones left in the plaza were Nire, Cheren, and a strange young man with conspicuous green hair.

The green-haired man walked over to Nire casually, looking down at Monk, whom she was holding in her arms. "Your Pokémon…Just now, it was saying…" He was speaking in an incredibly fast pace, even Nire had to actually focus in on him to understand.

Cheren looked somewhat annoyed. "Slow down, you talk too fast. And what's this about Pokémon talking? That's an odd thing to say."

The man nodded. "Yes, they're talking. Oh…then you two can't hear it, either…How sad." The man pepped up a bit, looking straight at Nire, who nearly flinched. Nire didn't like strangers. At all. If he got any closer, she'd probably shank him or something. "My name is N."

Cheren, even though he knew that this N was only addressing Nire by the looks of it, answered for both of them. "My name is Cheren, and this is Nire. We were asked to work on the Pokédex, but my main goal is to become the Champion."

N looked away from Nire and over to Cheren. "The Pokédex, eh? So you're going to confine many, many Pokémon into Pokéballs for just that, then. I'm a Trainer too, but I can't help but wonder…Are Pokémon really happy that way?" He took a couple of steps towards Nire, making her almost instinctively reach into one of her pockets and grasp the handle of one of the butcher knives. She really didn't want to have to hurt anyone, especially in the middle of town, but he was invading her personal space. That is something you simply do not do. "Well, Nire, is it? Let me hear your Pokémon's voice again!"

Nire found this to be a good enough excuse to run backwards a couple of feet, letting Monk down as she went. If this wackjob wanted to hear Monk talk that bad, then so be it. N sent out a purplish cat to meet Monk. A Purrloin, huh? Let's see how long this would take.

Purrloin came out swinging with Scratch, though Monk already knew what Nire would want from him. A swift dodge, and a Tackle in retribution. Monk had already deduced that his Trainer's strategy was an all-out offensive. "More! Let me hear the voice of your Pokémon!" Nire inwardly shuttered. She did not like this man. The sooner he was away from her, the better.

A couple of smacks to the hand and Tackles to the Purrloin later, and Purrloin went down. N stared in confusion at Monk, seemingly not caring too much about his Purrloin, which he simply recalled. "I've never heard Pokémon say things like that before…" Monk had not uttered a peep the entire battle, what was he talking about?

N looked at Nire again as she cautiously went forward to pick up Monk, acting as though he would attack her if she got too close. "…As long as Pokémon are confined to Pokéballs, Pokémon will never be perfect beings. I have to change the world for Pokémon, because they're my friends." And with that, he turned and left without another word. Not that Nire wasn't thankful to have such a space-invading stranger away from her.

Cheren had been standing on the sidelines watching the battle, knowing full well Nire could hold her own in a battle. Around strangers, not so much. He remembered the one time their families, including Bianca's, had gone to Castelia City on vacation. Nire had looked utterly terrified the entire time, sticking as far away from the rushing crowds as possible and clinging to her father, who had still been around then.

Either way, he stepped up to speak with her. "Strange guy. Not gonna let him bother me, though. Pokémon and Trainers depends on one another, it's perfectly fair!" Nire turned to look at him; well, less look at him and more in his general direction. Another of her habits; she will never look you directly in the eyes, ever. "Listen, I'm going ahead to Striation City, where the first Gym Leader is. If you can beat Gym Leader after Gym Leader, you can challenge the Pokémon League." Cheren then left in the same direction as N had, feeling Nire's eyes burning holes into his back.

Left nearly all alone again (Monk always counted) Nire briefly thought out her next course of action. Monk was only a little worse for wear, a couple of scratches where that Purrloin had landed a blow. Either way, she should learn how to use the Pokémon Center's facilities, for future reference.

Heading back inside the Pokémon this time was actually a little refreshing, if mostly because there wasn't as many people. She walked forward the slightest bit stiffly and deposited Monk onto the counter with the nurse behind it. The nurse perked to life, as though she was activated by a switch in front of the counter (Nire tapped her foot on the floor panels, just to make sure) and began her rehearsed-sounding speech. "Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Center! We can return your Pokémon to full health! Would you like to-" When the nurse cracked her eyes open a bit, she caught the glare of a demonic-looking teenager; hair in a mess, dark bags under her eyes, eyes themselves gray green and devoid of emotion. The instant her gaze was met, Nire flicked her eyes away to stare at the wall. The nurse did her best to dismiss the feeling of fear that slightly coursed through her at the sight of the creepy teen, and picked up the Oshawott on the counter. "A-Ah, yes, I'll heal your Oshawott back up to full health for you." No response.

Monk back at her side only a few short moments later, Nire wandered over to the PC somewhat warily. She honestly had no clue how it worked, and she did not want to appear stupid to any passerby. Booting it up was easy enough; simply hitting the large switch labeled "POWER". Afterwards, she examined the options it gave her; Someone's PC, Nire's PC- that was probably what she was looking for. Hitting the "Nire's PC" button only led to a page listing Mail Storage. How did that make any sense? Either way, she hit the back button and hit the only other viable option, Someone's PC. Whoever Someone was.

"Pokémon Storage System accessed" flashed on the screen, and Nire felt just a little proud. She hadn't made a complete fool out of herself. Quickly storing away her unneeded Lillipup and Patrat, she shut down the system the best she knew how and left. She felt no need for a visit to the Pokémart.

Nire looked about the scenery after leaving, trying to remember the way that Cheren and N had left in. She glanced down to Monk, as though asking for directions. Monk didn't quite know, either, leaving Nire to sigh and resign herself to wandering around town until she found the way to Route 2.

**Meh~, my God, I finally got this done~! I am far too lazy. =3= I swear I will update faster next time~! Anyway, thanks for reading~!**


	3. Uneventful Mother to Daughter Chat

**A/N: Meheheh, I honestly don't remember the last time I updated this. I kinda have really bad memory. I'm updating now, so I think it's all good~! Thanks for reading!**

Nire stared with well-hidden relief at the terminal linking to Route 2. It was a miracle that she had managed to get lost in a town that small for around an hour, but she was either too prideful or too scared to ask anyone for directions.

She took her sweet time wandering through the terminal, observing the electronic bulletin board briefly, mostly relishing in the distinct lack of people. She had had one too many close calls where strangers had walked a little too closely to her and she nearly sent a butcher knife through their head. Overreacting? Probably.

Nire had a miniature spazz attack when her Xtransceiver rang loudly without her expecting it. She had to pat herself down in order to find the stupid thing, and stared in wonder at her mother's bright face on the screen. "Hello, dearie. It's your mom! How are things?" Nire gave a noncommittal shrug. "I needed to talk to you, so I called, but I'm going to hang up the Xtransceiver now." The Xtransceiver clicked off, and Nire thought nothing of it and attempted to keep going forward into the route. That is, until she heard her mother's gentle voice from behind her. "Nire?"

She stood stark upright in mild surprise, doing her strange rotate-only-the-upper-body-around-to-face-someone thing, peering momentarily at her mother before flickering her gaze away to a nearby tree. Her mother wasn't fazed – she had raised the girl, after all – and didn't hesitate to saunter over to Nire and stand within 5 feet of her. She knew that she was one of the few Nire didn't particularly mind being in her personal space, the others being her father and, to a lesser degree, Bianca and Cheren. "Whew, I finally caught up with you. You've gotten so far, and so fast!" Nire didn't understand. Sure, she moved pretty slow, but travelling on foot to one nearby town in a little less than a day shouldn't be that impressive. "Well, earlier I thought to myself, "What could I do to make my daughter's journey a little easier on her?" And I decided that I could buy you a new pair of running shoes!" Nire's mother produced a black set of tennis shoes from behind her back. Nire herself looked down to the dark blue and white pair she was currently wearing. What was wrong with these? There were no tears, the soles had no holes, they didn't have too much water damage… Then when she very momentarily looked up at her mother's face, the look in her eyes threw her off. She wasn't good at all at telling emotion, but from what she could tell, her mother looked hopeful that Nire would let her try to help. Nire had always been stubborn in her own way, never wanting to give up her old things, never wanting to let herself be helped by anyone other than her father. She supposed that would make her mother feel left out, since her mother had always been the nurturing sort…

With a noncommittal grunt, Nire snatched the shoes away from her mother's tiny hands and began slipping off her old pair. Her mother clasped her hands together and smiled brightly, her tinkling laughter chiming. Many people never thought Nire and her mother were related, due to the sheer amount of differences between them. Hair color was really the only similarity between the two of them, most of her other traits coming from her father. Her general lankiness, her rather black and white morality, her couple of inches over her mother…Most people just thought it was impossible for a woman so beautiful to have a child so…unsettling.

Anyway, Nire had quickly changed shoes, shifting her weight between her feet uncomfortably since they were kind of tight on her. Her mother gave a warm smile. "Yes, they look good on you, don't they? These shoes are built for running, you know." Nire slightly furrowed her brow. "Oh, I know you don't like running, but you never know when you might need to take off in a hurry!" Nire's mother gently placed a hand on Nire's shoulder, doing her best not to be hurt by her daughter's natural flinch at the touch. "Just remember, dear, that you're never alone. You have your Pokémon, you have your friends, and you are always in my thoughts." She gave a few quick pats before letting Nire go. "Just…promise me you'll try to make a new friend while you're out there. Just one. Please?" Nire didn't know how to respond. Her mother had to know she never spoke to strangers, so there was no way any connection could be had between her and someone she didn't know well. But again, she found herself succumbing to her mother's pleading eyes, and she sighed and gave a tiny nod. She would try, but she wouldn't outright ask random people to be her friend. Perhaps she would find someone that she didn't mind.

Her mother gave one last forlorn glance before doing her best to be enthusiastic. "Alright, that's all I had for you. Enjoy your trip, sweetie!" And with that, she turned on her heel and headed back to the terminal, with Nire's eyes boring holes into her back.

The teenager turned back to the grass of Route 2, not really knowing what lied ahead but too generally apathetic to question it for too long. A large boulder on the edge of the road distracted her for a while, since it sort of seemed like there was something behind it, but she had a feeling that she couldn't get behind it for a while longer.

The grass was easy enough to pass on through without problems, though for some reason she found a potion lying in the middle of the patch. She decided to believe that some other trainer passing through had dropped it, and she pocketed it without thinking too hard about it.

Nire probably jumped 5 feet in the air when a young boy's voice sounded somewhere to her left. "Hey, you! Yeah, you, the girl in the jean jacket!"

She rotated herself to briefly glance at the young boy who was calling for her. By the looks of it, he had just turned ten, heading out on his adventure. The boy himself had backed up a bit from the girl he'd just ran up to, mostly because she seemed to be glaring at him. He hesitantly held up a Pokéball. "Um…Wanna battle?" Nire sighed and pulled out Monk's Pokéball, making a point of backing away from the kid.

The kid himself sent out a Patrat, and not that strong of one at that. She casually tossed the Pokéball to the ground, releasing Monk, who quickly trained their gaze on the Patrat. She clapped her hands, not seeming to focus that much.

Tackles were exchanged, though Monk's higher level won the battle quickly enough. She withdrew Monk, turning to walk away. The boy sighed in defeat, calling back out to her. "Seems like I lost…"

"…"

He walked up to her, handing her the prize money. He noticed how she looked incredibly uneasy when he approached her. "My name's Jimmy."

"…"

"So, what's your name?"

"…"

"…Are you mute?"

"…" A shake of the head.

"Then why aren't you saying anything?"

"…"

He sighed, giving up. Nire just continued to walk away, not even bothering to acknowledge him further.

**A/N: FOREVER AND A DAY LATER, I AM DONE. My God, I have no idea why this update took so long. I'll do my best to make the next one faster, I swear it! Thanks for reading!**


	4. Two Rival Battles and More Getting Lost

**A/N: Okay then, since I'm actually starting to write this the day after I posted the last chapter, I don't know how long this'll take me. I'm really bad at planning ahead in my stories, so…Anyway, I've gotten all the places for Nire's team filled up, so there's no need to send any more! Though, if more are sent anyway, I might have a little scene with her catching one but not using it…I'm too nice. I guess I'll shut up now, thanks for reading!**

In Nire's honest opinion, Route 2 took too long. Too much grass, too many strangers, but she shouldn't be whining about that. This was a Pokémon journey, she'd have to be quite stupid if she didn't expect tall grass and strangers. She'd caught a Purrloin on the way, but it was such an obnoxious attention whore that she stuffed it away inside her jacket and made it a priority to box it as soon as possible.

However, she wasn't even allowed to recuperate; Bianca had shown up right at the outside of town. "Come on, Nire, let's battle! Ready or not, here I come!" Nire sighed, but had no choice to comply, sending out Monk. He'd gained a couple levels, she was sure, as he'd been able to pull off a decent Water Gun not long before.

Bianca sent out a Lillipup that looked like it had been recently groomed. Nire made a soft hissing noise, which was Monk's signal to use Water Gun. On command, he let out a thick stream of water, dousing the Lillipup. It got back to its feet easily enough, and it Tackled in retaliation. Nire let out a more persistent hissing, trying to tell Monk to finish it. He got the message, and ended up knocking the poor Lillipup into a tree.

Bianca gasped, withdrawing her fallen Lillipup and cooing comfortingly at the ball. Nire did little more than nod her appreciation towards Monk, but from her that meant a lot. Bianca sent her Tepig next, which flinched when it recognized the dark-faced woman it had to face.

Tepig fell much in the same way its predecessor did, with a Water Gun to the face. She knew that she shouldn't be too entertained with blasting the little pig about, but she couldn't help herself. Bianca had spoken to her after Nire'd won, something about tough cookies, though she mostly just blocked it out.

Either way, she had ended up in Striaton City, which to her dismay, was much larger than Accumula Town. She really had to go look for whatever-her-name-was in this town? What if she was in those apartment complexes? Would she have to go door to door? If that were the case, she's outright refuse to do it. /Approach/ people?!

However, that seemed to be what she was stuck doing. So, she sat for a minute and came up with an alternative. She entered the Pokemon Center with a tiny slip of paper clutched in her gloved hand, slipping both her one Pokéball and the paper to the nurse. The nurse, somewhat afraid this was a robbing note, opened it and was relieved that the message was harmless, and written in surprisingly ornate and tiny handwriting: _Would you please tell me where Fennel lives? Professor Juniper sent me to speak with her._

"Fennel lives up the road, sweetie. She's in the big apartment complex, the one on the end." Nire nodded, though most definitely not appreciating the use of the word "sweetie" to describe her. Monk was healed quickly, and she set out to the apartment complex, before realizing she hadn't been told which apartment. She was soon on her way again, wondering how in Arceus' name someone could rent the entire upper floor of a building to themselves.

The upper level of the apartment building was being blocked by a little kid, who looked rather intimidated at her harsh glare. "U-Uh…Fennel said she doesn't want to be interrupted right now! Something about being on the brink of a breakthrough!" Nire frowned deeply. Wasn't that annoying. Well, Cheren said something about there being a Gym in this town, that was something to do in the meantime.

The Gym was easy to spot; it looked like a restaurant, maybe one that had been smashed together with a cathedral. Large Pokéball statues were on either side of the door, scrawled with the names of those who had beaten the leader. Some old man was in the way of the door, and she already had an idea of what he was going to say. "Sorry, kid, the leader isn't here right now. Went off to the Trainer School, you know? If you want to see him, go there. It isn't far from here." They were doing this to irritate her, they had to be.

She was quite happy there was nobody in front of the Trainer School blocking her way. She might have done something rash if there had been. The outside was fancy, though the inside was only one room and very bland. For some reason, nobody was in their desks, almost everyone looked too old to be in school, and there was no obvious teacher in sight. It wasn't her place to really criticize, but she couldn't help herself sometimes. Nobody stood out to her at first, nobody that looked unusual enough to be a Gym Leader. She remembered hearing stories from her father about Gym Leaders, how they always wore the stupidest get-up that made them stand out a mile away. He said the one where he lived looked like some sort of hippie.

However, on the far end, she could easily make out Cheren's weird dark blue hair. He was reading the board, which from what she could tell was explaining the various status effects. He didn't notice her at first, but jumped about 5 feet in the air when he noticed she was pretty much right over his shoulder in an attempt to read the board. He really wished she wouldn't do that, at least not as often as she did. "Hey, Nire, come for the Gym Leader? He was talking about Pokémon types a minute ago, but he left. Maybe you walked in past him." She doubted it. Nobody had passed her, at least not anyone noticeable to be a Gym Leader. "By the way, will you have a battle with me? I want to test how important items are in a battle." Did she have a choice?

Monk was her only option for a Pokémon, since she hadn't decided on any others for her team. Her Patrat was too paranoid to focus in a battle and her Lillipup too headstrong to pay attention to her commands, and she didn't even bother considering her Purrloin. Either way, Monk seemed to her to be steadily developing her stoic nature, since he was holding his head in a dignified way with an adorably determined frown. She made a mental note to cuddle him later before focusing back on the battle.

Cheren had sent his Snivy out first, apparently wanting to cash in on the type advantage. Since Water Gun would have little effect, she'd have to rely on Monk's Tackle to beat it down before it had chance to use Vine Whip too much.

Snivy was quite obviously the faster of the two Pokémon, as it immediately lashed out with Vine Whip. From what Nire could tell, Monk hadn't taken too much damage from that, and one smack of the hand later Snivy was sent flying. However, once Snivy was back to its feet, it pulled a dark blue berry out of seemingly nowhere and ate it, and it seemed invigorated from it. Oran Berry, it had to be. At the least, she remembered from somewhere that Oran Berries really don't heal that much health, so they could probably still win.

Snivy had used Leer next turn, perplexing Nire but not enough for her to show it. Just a free turn to attack in her mind, and Snivy was promptly Tackled again. Snivy had used Vine Whip again the next move, and it obviously had more of an effect than last time, knocking poor Monk entirely off his feet, though he stood back up again. One Tackle later and Snivy was down, earning Monk a respectful nod from his Master, at which he beamed.

Cheren's second and last Pokémon was a Purrloin, one that was obviously higher leveled than the ones she'd encountered before then. Even then, it went down easily due to Water Gun and something Nire had once read about called STAB. Something about when a Pokémon uses a move that's the same type as it is, the attack does more damage. Anyway, Cheren was soon forced to give some prize money, and he only advised her to check out the Gym to see if the Leader was back yet, before turning back to the board. She couldn't tell if he was being brief out of frustration that he lost or not.

Either way, she'd ended up back outside with Monk trailing behind, and she noticed that a very conspicuous looking man standing in front of the Gym. Judging from the green hair, he had to be a Gym Leader. Gym Leaders never look like normal people, her dad had said, and her dad was always right. He had looked at her with a sort of uneasiness that he was quick to hide. "Do you wish to challenge the Gym?" Nire nodded. "Alright then. What Pokémon did you start with?" Monk stood up tall at her side, at least as tall as he could make himself. "Water-type? Hmm. You best be prepared to fight against Pokémon with the type advantage. Maybe you should train at the Dreamyard before you challenge here." With that, the green-haired boy walked back inside his restaurant-cathedral thing and Nire was left wondering where the Dreamyard was, and a short while later wondering where one could buy maps of individual towns while passing by an apartment complex she could've sworn she passed twice before.

**A/N: I don't know how I managed to finish this in such a short amount of time, knowing me, but I'll upload it anyway. I'm pretty sure next time we'll be getting into the first Gym, so maybe something eventful will happen for once! Thanks for reading~!**


	5. Ugly Fire Monkeys and the First Gym

**A/N: So, I restarted one of my Generation 5 games to play along to this (to judge when Pokémon should evolve and that) and for some reason it's motivating me to update a lot more. Good for you guys, I guess. Thanks for reading!**

Another hour of searching resulted in Nire coming across a pathway into a line of trees with an official-looking sign declaring it the Dreamyard. To say she was confused was an understatement. Even past the trees was nothing but a couple patches of grass that she couldn't get to and an old crumbling building. Not exactly what she'd call 'dreamy'.

The trainers were pretty darn easy, only using the same Pokémon she'd seen a dozen times before. When she got past that lot, a little girl ran up to her and she assumed it was another Trainer. "Hey, what Pokémon did you start with?" Monk glanced out from behind Nire's leg. "Oshawott? Then you can have my Pansear! Water is weak against Grass, and Pansear knows Fire moves!" The girl handed over a Pokéball before Nire could refuse it. In the end, she decided to keep it. If it helped fill up the Pokédex, who cares? However, that was before she saw what it looked like.

She stared with some sort of contempt down at the orange-colored monkey, with a tuft of hair resembling a fire on its forehead. In her opinion, it was utterly hideous. This thing was going to be boxed as soon as it had no more use. However, she knew full well the little girl was right, that Monk would be at a severe disadvantage if he didn't have some other Pokémon to balance it out. The only weaknesses Monk had was Grass and Electric, and this ugly little monkey covered one of those. Her mind kept racing as she dragged herself back through the Dreamyard, with both Monk and her new Pansear following behind.

A quick stop at the Pokémon Center later and they were ambling casually through the Gym doors, silently admiring the fancy interior. The old man who had been blocking the way inside stepped in her path when she was about to go too far into the Gym portion of the restaurant. "You're here to challenge the Gym, right?" She nodded. "I knew it. Here, take this as a token of appreciation for challenging the Gym." He handed over a plastic water bottle, which Nire quietly pocketed and made a mental note to check for poison.

The man walked back over to where he'd been, and she kept on going to a very large, bright red curtain with an illustration of a flame on it. Three large switches occupied the floor in front of it; one red, one blue, one green. After staring for a second, she realized it was a type advantage quiz of sorts and she stepped on the blue one in the middle. The curtain drew back before her, revealing another, bright blue, a little farther down. She thought her father had said to her once that Gym Leaders put all sorts of impossible stuff in their Gyms. This wasn't impossible at all, and her father was always right. She must have heard him wrong. However, she had been unable to see the trainer that had been standing just where the curtain hid him. After a quick battle fought by an utterly clueless Pansear and Monk having to clean up when said stupid Pansear was knocked out, she promptly turned and left the Gym. She'd entirely forgotten that Pansear knew nothing of how she issued commands.

-THIS IS A LINE BREAK-

Nire decided they were ready to try the Gym again the next day. The previous day had been spent attempting to teach the Pansear commands, but it was much harder than it sounds. Pansear was either very accustomed to verbal commands or just plain stupid, because it had taken at least an hour for him to catch on to what she was trying to say with her gestures and hisses. At least now he at least understood the basics, and she'd done her best to keep it simple. Scratch was a rake of the nails down her jacket sleeve, Lick was sticking her tongue out, and Incinerate was blowing air through her hand. Not hard, in her opinion.

The Gym Leader had the courtesy of leaving the first curtain open for her, and the trainer-slash-waiter she'd defeated before didn't try challenging her again, and for that she was thankful. The second curtain was simply Grass beats Water, and the second Gym trainer went down easily, though Nire was left confused on why none of the trainers so far had used Pokémon with the advantage over Monk. It had all been Normal types so far. Had the Gym Leader told her that, and set that girl up in the Dreamyard, as a trick to pawn off that ugly-as-sin Pansear to her? Someone was getting stabbed if that was the case.

The last curtain, Fire beats Grass, was soon gone, and a large main stage was set up before her. The man with the bright green hair was standing front and center, looking at her with the same sort of uncertainty as before. "Welcome to the Striation City Pokémon Gym." Out from behind him, another boy with bright crimson hair twirled out and stood to his left. "I'm Chili! I light things up with Fire-type Pokémon!" Another boy, this time with wavy blue hair, twirled in the opposite direction and settled on his right. "I'm a Water-type specialist, and my name is Cress. Pleased to make your acquaintance." The green-haired boy in the middle made a slow twirl in place. "And my name is Cilan. I like Grass-type Pokémon." They all twirled in unison, though Cilan still twirled slower. "Um, you see…As for why the three of us, um, are all here is, well, er…" The uncertainty she'd seen earlier was coming out full force, and he was nervously looking at his feet. His brother (at least, she assumed him to be his brother) cut in, "Oh, enough! Listen up!"

"The three of us will decide whom you'll battle! It'll be based on the type of the first Pokémon you chose! " So Cilan hadn't lied to her. Good thing, too, she really didn't want to stab anyone. The blue haired one – Cress, or something – agreed with Chili. "That is indeed the case." Monk was standing proudly at her side, since she had grown accustomed to keeping him out of his ball. "And the partner you first chose was Water-type, it seems."

Both Cress and Chili backed up, leaving Cilan to face her alone. He pulled a Pokéball, still looking down unconfidently. "Nothing personal…No hard feelings…Me and my Grass-type Pokémon will…um…We're gonna battle, come what may." She nodded and threw out Pansear, absently noting that Chili looked rather disappointed.

He first sent out a Lillipup, confusing her. Why would a Grass-type specialist have a Normal type? Either way, she quickly switched her Pokémon out, Monk running out in Pansear's place. Lillipup used Work Up in the meantime, though Nire paid no heed. She sent Monk to shooting off Water Gun after Water Gun, while Lillipup managed to use Bite once or twice. It did more damage to Monk than she thought, irritating her. She really didn't want to leave everything to Pansear in the case of emergency.

Despite that, Monk had managed to knock out Lillipup without too much damage on his end. She called him back anyway and sent Pansear in his place, having the feeling this is where things would get tricky. She ended up correct, and Cilan sent out a green monkey resembling Pansear, though somewhat less ugly. What was it called…Pansage? Yes, that was it. Cilan made a comment about it being his last Pokémon, and she secretively nodded her head. So knock this one down and she would win her first badge. She wouldn't lose, not now and not ever. She didn't want to disappoint her father by losing her first Gym battle.

Pansage's first move was to lash out at Pansear with the think vine of his tail; Vine Whip, she would think. Either way, it barely did anything . She quickly had Pansear retaliate with Incinerate, though it took a second for it to remember what her blowing through her hand meant. As usual, this went back and forth for a while, until it was evident Pansage was almost done. It was panting, its movements sluggish. Perfect, this was much easier than she'd thought it'd be. However, she hadn't expected Cilan to beckon his Pokémon to him and use a Potion on it. Wait a minute, he was allowed to do that? Since when? It was unfair, to say the least. However, nobody present objected to it, so she had no choice but to go with it.

Something that almost looked like a smile flickered across Nire's face as the last of the embers died from the last Incinerate, and it was revealed that Pansage was most definitely unconscious. Pansear was looking extremely pleased with itself, and she vaguely wondered if it thought she was keeping it on her team. It had performed well, that much was true, but she simply saw no use for the little runt any longer.

Cilan withdrew his fainted Pansage, shock evident on his face. "…What a surprise. You…are very strong. Seems like not even Chili or Cress could beat you…" He handed her the prize money, before presenting a tiny piece of metal. The metal was set into three diamonds connected on the ends, with tiny blue, red and green gems set in the center of each diamond. She gingerly pinched it between her fingers, staring at it as though she wasn't sure it was real. "Gym Badges are proof of a Trainer's abilities. If you have one Badge, Pokémon, including traded Pokémon up to Level 20, will obey you without question. We also want you to have this." He handed her a disk, the cover of which was blank white with 83 written on the top. She stuffed it away, making another note to buy a case for these things. "TM83 contains Work Up. If you use Work Up, the Pokémon's Attack and Special Attack go up!" Hm. How utterly useless.

She fished through her pockets and pulled out the Badge Case her father had a long time ago bought for her. It was a little aged, the painted metal peeling a little here and there, but she would never complain about a gift her father gave her. She popped open the latch, and wedged the badge into the first slot, though it took a little effort. Her first badge. She knew her father would be proud of her. Seeing as Cilan seemed to have nothing more to say to her, she turned on her heel and left, staring at her new badge all the while.

**A/N: Yay for Gym battles! I know I didn't add that much detail to the battle, and I'm sorry about that, but that's what happens when you have only two Pokémon. Things will get more interesting the farther we get in, I'm sure. Thanks for reading~!**


	6. Hunting for the Pointless Dream Mist

**A/N: If anyone's wondering if I have a set updating schedule for this story, I don't. I just update when the story stops getting consistent views. Eheheh…Thanks for reading!**

Nire didn't have a chance to go too far out of the Gym, seeing as some woman with impossibly long and impossibly purple hair was in her way. She was tempted to walk right past her, but the woman had no intention of letting her leave. "Hi, I'm Fennel!" Good for you. "Professor Juniper told me to give you something. Please, follow me!" She turned and walked off in the direction of the apartment complexes. Nire silently sighed, feeling like she had no choice, and followed behind at a distance.

Fennel kept talking to her the way over. "You're going to catch all the Pokémon in the Unova region? Cool! Oh, the stairs are over here!" That much was obvious, why would she bother saying anything?

Fennel's room really was the entire upper floor of the building, though her bed had some really messed up machinery around it. Then she noticed the second occupant in the room, a much younger girl with her hair set in pigtails. She had no idea who it was, but she made no effort to find out.

Fennel sat herself in one of the chairs at the kitchen table, with Nire choosing to lean against the dividing wall. "So like I said, I'm Fennel, and as you can see, I'm a scientist." Nire decided she didn't like this Fennel. She kept repeating herself, it was annoying. "In fact, the subject I'm researching is Trainers!" Good for you. "Professor Juniper is my friend from college. She asked me to help you guys." She had no idea what a college was, but she obviously said nothing about it.

Fennel perked up, sticking her pointer finger in the air like she had an epiphany. "So! I'll give you something to help you. This is a Hidden Machine for you!" She handed over a disc like the one she'd been given by Cilan, though this one had a golden edging to its lettering of 01. She slid it into the inside pocket of her coat along with the other one, reminding herself to buy that case for these things. "There are some moves that a Pokémon can use even when it is not fighting!" She went on to explain that the move was Cut, though Nire chose to block the majority of it out. She was getting sick of this annoying woman.

"And I'd like to ask you a favor, too!" Fabulous, want something from the store? "There is a place called the Dreamyard on the outskirts of Striaton City." Duh. "I'd like some of the Dream Mist that a Pokémon called Munna gives off. With that, I'll be able to use Game Sync to collect save files of various Trainers!" That…made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Nire quickly backpedaled out of the room and down the stairs, planning to entirely ignore this crazy woman's request. Bianca would probably do it in her place.

-THIS IS A LINE BREAK-

After a quick visit to the Pokémon Center, involving boxing her hideous Pansear and the purchase of a TM case and a couple Pokéballs from an intimidated shopkeeper, she headed off to where she'd seen the exit of town in her search for the Dreamyard. The exit had a very nice garden surrounding it, which she took a little while simply milling around and admiring the hedges. However, she wasn't able to leave through the elegant wooden archway leading to Route 3. An elderly man stepped into her path when she tried to. "The scientist Fennel was looking for you!" These people were _trying _to make her mad.

-THIS IS A LINE BREAK-

After another hour or so of trying to find the Dreamyard all over again, and fifteen minutes on top of that getting back her Pansear to teach it that useless Cut, Nire stormed through the area blocked off previously by a small tree. She wasn't exactly I a humorous mood, so she just wanted to get in and out as quickly as she could. She just had to get a Munna, right? Easy enough.

At that moment, a hand tapped Nire on the shoulder, startling her enough to make her draw one of her knives and pointing it threateningly. It turned out only to be Bianca, though Nire didn't forgive that easy for scaring her like that. "Hi! Are you looking for the mysterious Pokémon, too?" It was a Munna, it wasn't exactly mysterious.

Bianca rushed on ahead of her, Nire lagging behind as always. Something sounding distinctly like a Pokémon's cry echoed out from behind a still-standing section of wall, calling her attention and making her go inside the ruined remains of the building against her better judgment. A Pokémon that looked quite strange to her was floating inside. It looked like a taper colored pastel pink, with designs like flowers adorning its sides. The Pokémon let out a soft cry that sounded like a yawn, blinking adorably. So this was a Munna? Looked like it would make a perfectly good football to her.

"There's one!" an overly gruff voice sounded. Out of another pile of rubble came two of those Team Plasma goons, one boy and one girl. They surrounded the Munna as Bianca made her way to where Nire stood. "Cough up some Dream Mist, right now!" The man violently kicked the Munna, making it cry out in pain.

Bianca saw what was happening and puffed up in rage. "Hey! Who are you? What do you think you're doing?"

The female grunt pinned the Munna as the male addressed her. "Us? We're Team Plasma. We battle day and night to liberate Pokémon from foolish humans!"

The girl cut in. "The Pokémon Munna and Musharna emit a mysterious vapor called Dream Mist, which shows people's dreams. We're going to use that to make people want to release their Pokémon."

The man gave another strong kick. "Come on! Spit out that Dream Mist!"

Bianca grew only more livid. "Why are you kicking it? That's mean! Aren't you trainers, too?" The grunts pretended not to hear.

During this whole exchange, Nire was silently boiling in the background. Selfish hypocrites, saying they want to help Pokémon white blatantly abusing one. She wouldn't stand for it. Only because Bianca would stop her if she pulled a knife, she stepped forward with Monk's Pokéball outstretched.

"You think you can take me on, brat? Try me!" The man sent out a Patrat, one that was a much lower level than Monk. Nire internally snorted. Too easy.

The man very quickly lost, due to attempting to use Bide and being knocked out before it could complete it. The woman challenged her right after, and lost just as quickly.

Even after they both went down, the man went back to kicking Munna. Bianca screamed for him to stop.

A flash of light blinded everyone for a second, and an image of Ghetsis flashed into existence to the left. "What do you think you're doing, fooling around like this?" Another appeared right across from the first. "There is more important work to be done!" Both vanished and a third apparated right next to them, his face set with a firm glare. The grunts began to panic, believing themselves to be in serious trouble, and ran away. The third Ghetsis disappeared right after.

Out from behind a pile of rubble appeared another Pokémon, one that looked just like a bigger version of Munna. They yawned at each other and flew away, leaving a pinkish mist floating in the air. An image of Nire riding a huge bird flashed in the mist for a second, before vanishing into nothing.

As it happened, Nire's least favorite person arrived on the scene after everything was said and done. "Did you get the-the Dream Mist!" She flitted over to the cloud and rapidly scooped at it with a jar, which miraculously managed to contain some. Nire's brow furrowed. If she could come down here at any time, why did she send other people in the first place?

"Thanks a lot, guys! Now, there's serious studying that needs to be done on this Mist! Thanks for the help!" Fennel left the same way she came. Bianca ran off among the rubble, saying she wanted to find a Munna for herself. Nire just left the place entirely, wanting just to get out of Striaton City and do something productive.

**A/N: I take forever, I know. :I But it's done now, due to me being home sick with strep throat. Fun, hmm? I'll do what I can to update sooner, but meh. Thanks for reading~!**


	7. Wellspring Cave and Route 3, Somewhat

**A/N: Thought I was dead? Well, I'm not, just somewhat comatose. Anyway, I decided since the sixth generation is coming out, I might as well hurry my rear up and finish this story. Therefore, I'm going to ATTEMPT (did you see that? ATTEMPT.) to update twice a week for now on, Saturdays and Wednesdays. This story needs to get finished. :I Thanks for putting up with me!**

That old man was stopping her again. She didn't care in the slightest what Fennel wanted to say to her, but the old man wouldn't get out of her way. It was irritating.

So, she took the practical approach and shoved him out of the way.

"H-Hey! Stop! Fennel needs to see you!" Who cares? She's annoying.

-THIS IS A LINE BREAK-

Nire's awkward gait that could barely be called a run slowly halted when it came to an obnoxiously colorful building, the words "DAY CARE" emblazoned on the front. Little kids were messing around the whole place, screaming their heads off and beating each other with sticks. Normal kid behavior.

She didn't plan on going anywhere near the place, for she despised children, but a pair of twin girls tried to stop her along the way. "Wanna battle? …Wait, you only have one Pokémon? Laaame!" She came very close to punting the kid, but resisted.

She could see a fork in the road, right past the Day Care. One path kept going straight, the other split off to the left. She couldn't remember which way was correct, for her memory was generally terrible, but the decision didn't seem to matter; Cheren came up behind her when she came to the fork regardless.

"Nire, we both have the Trio Badge now. Let's see which of us is stronger!" She sighed, but let Monk down. All these battles with Cheren got tedious at times.

-THIS IS A LINE BREAK-

"H-How…?" His Snivy had the type advantage against her Oshawott, regardless of level! There was no way she could've defeated him like that!

Nire didn't seem to care either way, holding Monk to her chest and petting his head lightly. She knew type didn't make much of a difference when sheer levels were involved. Besides, Monk had developed her pride; he wouldn't lose easily.

The pause was short-lived; two Team Plasma grunts, ones that could very easily be the same ones from earlier, forced their way past the two of them with only an "OUTTA THE WAY!" as warning. Bianca and a little girl came running after them, though they stopped when they got to Nire and Cheren.

"Nire, Cheren, there you are! We need to help this girl. Someone stole her Pokémon and ran off!" The little girl kept crying for her Purrloin, though since she looked a little too much like those twins Nire couldn't bring herself to care too much. Not like she had much choice in the matter; Cheren dragged her along the straight path regardless.

The straight path dead-ended with a cave, which the Town Map named "Wellspring Cave". It was not as impressive as she would've liked. No shining crystals, no strange rock formations, just dirt and water dripping from the ceiling. The two Plasma grunts stood at the end of the rather short tunnel, speaking in hushed tones.

"You two need to give back that Purrloin. She's just a little girl!"

The two looked up at them, brows furrowed. "A little girl like that can't take care of a Pokémon properly. In fact, the same goes for all of yours; hand them over!"

Cheren sneered and his hand went to his belt. "Nire, come on. We can take these two!" She nodded and let Monk go again. While she could care less for the little girl, Monk was hers and there was no way she was going to let anyone claim she couldn't take care of him properly.

She could barely believe how weak they were; a pair of Patrat, both much weaker than Monk and Cheren's Snivy. Their pride just enraged her.

As the last Patrat fell, Monk stood up straight again, putting his shell back on his chest. However, something seemed wrong; a very hushed glow surrounded him, and he seemed a little stressed. She didn't know what to do, so she called him back.

"Alright! Nire, you can go give that Purrloin back. I'll stay here and keep watch on these goons." She nodded, taking the Pokéball offered to her gruffly and walking out.

The little girl was awfully grateful; she took the Pokéball back with tears in her eyes. "Thank you, lady, thank you!" She just looked away, her hand tight around Monk's Pokéball. She wanted out of here so she could take a better look at him.

When she'd shook them off of her well enough, she went into the woods surrounding the route. For some reason, nobody dared stray from the path, so she knew she was safe. Monk was still glowing, though the light was more intense now. She scrambled through her pockets, trying to find something she could help him with, before the light grew blinding for a moment then vanished altogether. Where Monk had been sitting, a larger, darker blue otter blinked at her in confusion. She stared blankly, before fishing out the Pokédex.

"Dewott, the Discipline Pokémon. Scalchop techniques differ from one Dewott to another. It never neglects maintaining its scalchops." Monk had evolved, it seemed. She snapped closed the Pokédex and tried to pick Monk up again, but found his larger size also included larger mass, and she gave up when her arms nearly snapped. It didn't matter, though; he followed behind her loyally regardless. With that, she continued along the path to Nacrene City, hoping that Fennel wouldn't pop out of nowhere and force her to fetch Pidove feathers or something.

**A/N: Wow, I finished. Shocking. Next time, Pinwheel Forest and the addition of a new team member! Hopefully!**


	8. Blue or Magnolia?

**A/N: Me? Holding true to my word? What is this I don't even? Technically, I'm not holding true to my word, I'm updating early. How about this instead: Once a week, at the least. That work? Anyway, thanks for reading!**

What those twins said bothered her. It was rare for anything people said to bother her, but for some reason this did.

"_You only have one Pokémon? Laaaame!" _Ugh.

She needed to stop this annoyance, then obliterate those twins for being obnoxious. She needed another Pokémon, but what?

First, she scoured Route 3, for any new Pokémon she could take on. All she'd caught that was new was a Blitzle (one that had the most annoying voice in existence), an Audino (whose eternal response to a question nobody asked could not be tolerated for more than five minutes at a time) and a Pidove (which adored roosting on her head). She boxed the lot.

Next, she tried Wellspring Cave, for surely there must be new Pokémon in there that could catch her interest. She indeed caught 3 other new Pokémon (a Drilbur, a Roggenrola and a Woobat) but none of them stood out to her, either.

She was getting desperate. So desperate, in fact, she vowed to not even enter Nacrene City's Gym until she had her second Pokémon. That left her only one other option: Pinwheel Forest.

The absurdity of the name was enough to deter her from trying at first, but apparently many types of Pokémon dwelled in the trees of the place. She had to try, if only to fill the Pokédex.

Later that day, she was leaving the forest with Monk trailing behind, looking over the Pokédex once more. She'd caught every single kind of Pokémon in that forest, from Tympole to Sewaddle, and still she hadn't found one that would work for her. Her only hope was the four blank spots in the middle of the line, four Pokémon she hadn't found yet.

"Peti!"

Something soft managed to get itself flung from the end of Nire's foot. When she located where it had landed, she found it to be a Pokémon she'd never seen before. Shaped sort of like a tulip bulb, a tiny green and white blob was making tiny squeaks of protest at her. She walked over to it, pinching the top of its head to get a better look. Its face was the only thing that was white, and it didn't seem to have anything resembling arms or legs. Despite that, its black eyes were squinted in anger and it kept up its persistent squeaks.

She beckoned Monk over without a word. She'd already decided that this would be her second team member.

She set the Petilil back down, where it promptly hopped back a ways. It seemed to already know the battle procedure. She nodded, signaling with a wave of the hand for Monk to battle as he pleased. He nodded, looking like an apprentice samurai with his scalchops at the ready.

The battle couldn't have lasted very long, thirty seconds at the most. The Petilil was weak, no doubt about it. Regardless, it was personality that Nire wanted, not strength. With a flick of the wrist, her last free Pokéball hit the unconscious bulb with a ping, and stopped shaking very quickly. Petilil was hers.

She flipped open her Pokédex to do a quick background check on it. "Petilil, the Bulb Pokémon. Since they prefer moist, nutrient-rich soil, the areas where Petilil live are known to be good for growing plants." She frowned, her mind wandering in an attempt to come up with a suitable nickname for the bulb.

Monk came up beside her, concerned with the look on her face being even blanker than usual. "Dewo?"

"…Blue…Or Magnolia…"

"Wott?"

-THIS IS A LINE BREAK-

"Waaaah! Why'd you have to be so strong?" Twins thought they could get away with talking back to her? Not a chance.

**A/N: Well, I've been pretty consistent thus far as to updating, though this being only the second one I can't say so much of it. Anyway, the Petilil was the suggestion of 'bowser comunist lv x', who I honestly don't know if they're still reading this story. They asked for the name 'Blue' (like a bluebell), though I kind of like Magnolia. Magnolias are large and beautiful flowers, as well as being a symbol of the South. Lilligant being based on a Southern Belle, it fits. What do you all think? Anyway, thanks for reading!**


	9. Who Names Their Kid After a Letter?

**A/N: I told you I can't be trusted with updating schedules. Thanks for reading!**

Why was the gym always the most stand-out building in the town?

After getting Monk and Magnolia healed back up, Nire found her way to a gigantic museum. Huge columns and banners, with only a little sign out front indicating it was a gym at all. It was too fancy. After all, it's just a museum.

"I do believe I see Miss Nire."

Two seconds later, N had a very handsome cut on the bridge of his nose.

"What was that for?" Nire just stared at him with faint fury, one knife at the ready.

"Anyway…You're still training. But you're Pokémon seem happy…Battle me. I wish to hear their voices more." She did what she'd done the time before: backed up a good deal. He didn't bother trying to get closer.

His first Pokemon was a Pidove, which Nire barely acknowledged before sending out Monk. He was a default, after all, and she had the feeling he was stronger than most Pokémon were by the second Gym.

"I see Monk is a Dewott now. Evolving so soon…" Had he even been told Monk's name? Could Monk really talk? She looked to her partner, who looked equally confused.

The battle was quick. Monk's newly learned Razor Shell was actually extremely powerful, tearing through both his Pidove and the Timburr that came after, but the Tympole required Magnolia. "A Petilil? What's your name, little one? …Magnolia, huh?" How.

As Tympole fell to 'the most vicious Petilil to ever live', N only frowned. "This can't be right. Your Pokémon are…happy…to stay in Pokéballs…" He shook his head. "It isn't right! I'll get you yet!" …And he's gone. Well, who cares. There was an overly fancy museum that needed raiding.

**SHORT CHAPTER IS SHORT. =3= Thanks for reading~!**


	10. Stereotypes, Who Needs 'Em

**A/N: Well, I'm in a generally crappy mood since my cat ran away on the 11****th****. This'll help keep my mind off of it. Thanks for reading!**

The first thing that went through her mind was 'stereotypical'. As typical as museums got.

There were fossils and rocks in glass cases lining the walls, of course, but the main attraction was a gigantic dragon-like skeleton acting as a centerpiece of sorts. It didn't look like any Pokémon she'd seen before. Besides that, the whole place looked terribly bland, complete with a guy in a labcoat that was as skinny and pale as she was forcing her along a tour.

"These are fossilized versions of the ancient Pokémon Archen and Tirtouga. We keep them on display though we're able to bring them back to life! And this…It's just a pretty stone. No real use." Get this over with already.

After what seemed like eternity, they stopped in front of the skeleton and the man in the coat was interrupted by an unfitting, but equally stereotypical woman. It made her vaguely realize that this was the first black person she'd ever seen in person.

She was a large matronly black woman, hair in an afro-ponytail combination, dressed in a mix of homemaker and hippie. As Father said, the most stand-out person is by default the Gym Leader, so Nire casually stuck out a Pokéball to show her challenge.

"A challenger, I suppose? Well, I'm sorry, dearie, but you'll have to go to through the Gym first. I know you must have come from Striaton, so you can't be used to this by now, but Gyms usually have a puzzle section before the Leader. Helps weed out the weak, you know?" She frowned, but nodded.

As the Leader disappeared and her tour guide led her to the actual Gym, she got the tingling sensation that these puzzles were going to get absurd in the later Gyms.

-THIS IS A LINE BREAK-

The Gym was a giant library. Now, Nire knew how to read, she was good at it, but she never owned many books. Five actual books at the most, the rest being 10-page nonsense from her early years that her mother never could bring herself to be rid of. Therefore, she'd never seen this many books in her life. It made her feel vaguely excited. She took a step forward towards the nearest bookshelf when…Was that the same guy from earlier?

"Hello, champ-in-the-making! Welcome to Nacrene City's Gym! Here, have this one on the house!" He handed her a bottle of water. It was swiftly pocketed with the other untouched bottle from Striaton and promptly forgotten.

"Now, this Gym specializes in Normal-type Pokémon. They aren't strong against anything, but their only weakness is Fighting. Did you get a Timburr from Pinwheel Forest? Because it would help here." She had, but the fact that it had a tumor on its forehead made it unwanted. She shook the guy off and went about the books.

She tried to go riff through a random section, but someone on the stepladder next to her started talking to her. "In this Gym, the puzzle is trivia found in certain books! Beat me for the first one!" Arceus, why.

-THIS IS A LINE BREAK-

The battles were insanely easy. Lillipups and Patrats flooded the place, all too low a level to be of challenge to Monk. So instead, she allowed Magnolia the pleasure, in an attempt to both adapt her to her command technique and make her stronger. Magnolia was much smarter than the Pansear, understanding that her Trainer was just as offensive-based as the vicious Bulb Pokémon loved to be, and that Sleep Powder and Synthesis were unheard of in Nire's vocabulary. A vague sucking noise was enough to hint at Mega Drain, and later on when it was learned a quick stamping sufficed for Magical Leaf. It didn't make sense, but it was like that purposely to throw off people who may anticipate her attacks. At least, that's what Nire would claim.

Other than that, the questions she found in the books on notecards were at least interesting. Things from trains to a treat in Sinnoh called Poffins. She'd actually had a Poffin before, a green one with yellow sprinkles brought back by her father as a souvenir from a business trip. It tasted terrible, but she ate it regardless to please him.

When the last notecard was found and answered, a book case against the far right wall moved aside, revealing a stairway. She swore she heard someone say "Ow, my leg!", but shook it off and went downstairs.

About halfway down she promptly turned around and headed out the door, mostly due to the battered and tired Petilil hanging off her hand by its teeth.

**A/N: That's enough for today, I'm tired. Gym Battle next time! Thanks for reading, my dears!**


	11. Filler 1: Magnolia the Party Pooper

**A/N: Guys, I have a totally legitimate reason for the delay: I can't write battles for crap. So, we're having filler. Deal with it.**

It was in fact a couple of days after the first raid of the Gym before Nire returned. The truth of the matter was she hadn't slept since leaving home, as 'excited' as she was. As a result, when she brought Magnolia to the Pokémon Center to be healed, she ended up falling into a coma-like sleep on one of the couches for three days straight. She'd scared the life out of the nurse, who'd thought she'd died; being as pale and skinny as she was, the nurse assumed she'd frozen to death. Monk had indifferently waited out until his Trainer recovered, knowing full well that Nire was far too proud to be killed by mere sleep deprivation, and Magnolia found the whole thing hilarious. With three days to fill, there were many shenanigans to be had, and Magnolia was not about to miss an opportunity.

-THIS IS A LINE BREAK-

"Now Audino, this Timburr is in a very delicate state of health right now. We're going to need you to check its heartbeat. Can you do that?" The nurse was speaking in hushed tones to the trainee Audino, freshly captured. She began her training today, and was very excited. Of course, every party needs a pooper.

As she bent down to lay her delicate ear hairs to the Timburr's chest, the blankets covering it began to tremble. Audino immediately assumed that a Timburr's heart must be down there; after all, what else trembles so evenly? So of course, she set her ear hair down there instead.

"Um…Audino, what are you doing?" "Audino!"

It sounded even at first, but then she started to pick up another sound, one slightly fainter. A second heartbeat? What could that mean? Before she could think too much about that, her ears were split in two.

"PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!" A screech, high and painful, jolted straight through her ear hair. Ever screamed into a stethoscope while wearing it? Imagine that pain times ten.

Magnolia sprang from beneath the covers and hopped away, giggling maniacally the best that a Petilil could. She had a feeling Nire would be proud of her exploits if the nurse told her of this incident when she awoke. For the time being, all the praise she got was a paw upside the bulb courtesy of Monk, who could hear her screech clear from Nire's room.

-THIS IS A LINE BREAK-

Either way, when Nire finally did wake up, she promptly threw her jean jacket over her shoulders and left, Monk and Magnolia at her heels. The nurse was slightly astonished how nonchalant she'd been about the whole incident, since fainted trainers were not as common as fainted Pokémon.

**A/N: So guys, I've decided how filler is going to work. The first and last paragraph will have some sort of importance to the plot, and the rest will be a basket of giggles because I can't write battles at all. If you want to get the giggles, go ahead and read the whole thing. If you don't want to deal with my crap, just read the first and last paragraph and move on. Sound fair? Good, 'cause I'm going with it. **


	12. The Horrors of Retaliate

**A/N: Why the random update? Because it occurred to me that I'm already considering 2 sequels to this story, one for Black 2 White 2 and one for X and Y, and I haven't even gotten past the second gym yet. I jump the gun sometimes. Thanks for putting up with me.**

When Nire walked back into the Gym proper after her exhaustion-induced coma, she found that none of the bookshelves that she had maneuvered out of her way had closed back up again. She vaguely wondered if anyone had gone down to see the Gym Leader without having to battle the other trainers because of her. A couple new names on the pillars outside told her yes.

Regardless, she casually sauntered down the stairwell leading to what she assumed was the Leader's study, with Monk alongside her. The resemblance between Nire and her partner was astonishing, nowadays. When Monk was an Oshawott, he'd been as cute and lovable as most of that species were, but now his new streamlined face was able to reflect perfectly Nire's serious expression. His new light and dark blue fur matched his trainer's jean jacket well, almost as though he was wearing a second jacket tied around his waist. The only real difference between the two of them now is that Magnolia was latched onto a particularly ratty section of Nire's hair, clinging there like she was trying to suck out her brain. The humor of the position was ever-so-kindly pointed out to her when she hit the bottom of the stairs.

"Pfff-Ahahahahaha! Kid, you might wanna get your Petilil off of your head, I can't take you seriously like that!" Nire scowled in response, not moving an inch to remove Magnolia from her perch. She didn't care how strange it looked for Magnolia to sit there, she just enjoyed sitting atop her head and that was that. Besides, even if she did try taking her off, Magnolia would just climb back up again anyway.

"Anyway, my name is Lenora, and I'm the leader of this Gym. I specialize in Normal-types!" Yes, the creepy man that gave out questionable water at the door was kind enough to inform. "Now, let us begin!" With a casual gesture from Nire, Magnolia jumped off of her head and waddled out onto the battlefield, snarling as menacingly as an overgrown tulip bulb could.

The first Pokémon her opposition sent out was a new one to her, though she could easily guess that it was the evolved form of Lillipup. Its fur bore the same shagginess as on its pre-evolution, except with an extra layer of dark blue fur on top of that. Despite being bigger, there didn't seem to be that much difference between it and Lillipup. Nire interpreted this as meaning that this battle would be a cakewalk, so she gave a somewhat flighty whistle that she'd taught her Pokémon that basically meant "Do whatever you want," advice Magnolia was more than happy to take.

It was very hard to tell exactly what was going on due to all the commotion Magnolia immediately insisted on causing. Billows upon billows of rainbow-patterned leaves flew up, obscuring most of the battlefield from sight; while Nire was indifferent, seeing how she wasn't directly controlling Magnolia at this point, Lenora was desperately trying to see through the mess in order to assess the situation and launch a counterstrike. It was a little too late by the time the leafy storm wore down, as the dog was already unconscious.

"Herdier, return," Lenora muttered as she withdrew her fallen canine. Oh, so that's what it was called. Right as she was feeling entirely secure about her victory, her opponent smirked. "So, you think I'm not good enough for you to actually focus on our battle? Let's see if we can't change your mind." Nire only quirked an eyebrow in response as her last Pokémon debuted on the stage: what Nire assumed to be the evolved form of the other low-level fodder in the area, Patrat. She was sure that Lenora hadn't left home much. It was much of the same as Patrat, with the same shade of brown fur and the same weird bugging-out eyes, but it was much taller and skinnier, with designs on its chest that reminded her of those vests that construction workers wear. The way it stared down upon Magnolia was making the little bulb attempt to be brave, as she tried to meet its gaze and only succeeded in falling onto her back due to her lack of legs.

"Watchog, Retaliate!" The new foe's eyes squinted as it leaned down in a Headbutt position, before rearing forward with all its strength right into poor Magnolia. The poor bulb was launched across the room and landed at Nire's feet, her eyes now swirls.

Nire's eyes widened ever so slightly, indicating her well-hidden surprise. All that training and it had only taken one hit for Magnolia to be knocked out? Her first knock-out on her team ever, at that? She very calmly scooped Magnolia up into her arms. She didn't blame her for this; that move, Retaliate, must have been much stronger than anything else they'd fought before. However, that didn't mean Nire couldn't get even. With a motion of her fingers, Monk took Magnolia's place on the battlefield.

"So I'm guessing this is your last Pokémon? Let's see how intense this gets!" Nire only nodded in response, falling into a battle stance she'd once seen on a cheesy Samurai movie. Surprisingly, Monk mirrored her movement, and made it look much more natural. Then, the battle commenced.

Nire had read something a long time ago, about how moving in synchronization with your Pokémon helped boost their morale and made them fight much better than they normally would. This battle had been the first time she'd really tried that theory for herself, and it miraculously worked much better than you'd think it would. Though Nire's body wasn't as healthy as her partner's was, she still managed to keep up with his pace, using her knives in place of his scalchops when need be. That poor Watchog hadn't stood a chance; though it used Retaliate over and over again, it either missed or didn't do enough damage to slow Monk down for too long. In the end, Monk had emerged the victor, much to the pride of his now very exhausted Trainer.

Lenora, despite losing, didn't hold a grudge. In fact, she looked quite delighted. "The way you move with your Dewott, it's like you're one of the same! It is no shame to lose to a Trainer as in-tuned with your Pokémon as you are. The Basic Badge is yours, you've earned it!" She gingerly took the slender piece of metal from the woman's hand. The name was extremely indicative of its design; it looked only like a cobblestone path, nothing much interesting about it at all. Without a word, she snapped it into the second space of her worn old Badge Case and made for the stairs again, cradling Magnolia's fainted form as Monk followed close behind.

**A/N: Me, finishing something? Surely you jest. Maybe you're dreaming right now. Go ahead, pinch yourself. I dare you.**


	13. How to Speedrun Pinwheel Forest

**A/N: Over 60 views in one day after my last update? You people flatter me, and I'm a jerk who doesn't deserve it. Please keep it up, and I'll try to update faster so I can actually get to those sequels I was talking about.**

Another couple of days passed between Nire's victory at the Gym and her journey continuing, this time caused by the fact that she'd miraculously pulled her shoulder out of place during her match. It hadn't been serious, only requiring a quick bone shift and a couple of days for the muscles to stop hurting.

Of course, her timing was of the worst kind of perfect. The instant she walked out the Pokémon Center doors, she could very clearly hear yelling and tussling in the direction of the gym, followed by a glint of blue and white in the corner of her eye. When she looked, all she saw was the sprawling expanse that was the Pinwheel Forest.

It didn't take too long for her to be dragged into what wasn't her problem; the nerdy scientist from the museum ran up to her pretty much immediately after she tried walking the other way. "That Team Plasma just took off with the skull of our main attraction! Since you were strong enough to beat my wife in battle, we want to ask you for help!" Wait a minute, wife?

Lenora came up to them at that moment, as though trying to confirm what Nire had just heard. "Come on, kid, we know what happened to that arm of yours, but this is serious. Who knows what they could do with that skull?"

Now, Nire was not racist. She didn't really care about the color of people's skin in the slightest. However, she was indeed very sheltered, the type of girl who knew nothing about the outside world except for what her father told her. Well, her father was very…opinionated on the subject of marriage between a black and a white. Added on to the fact that Lenora was the first black person she'd seen in person, she was having a bit of culture shock. The impression she was getting was that such marriages are very common, and that her father was lying when he said that it was illegal. However, she couldn't except that her father would ever lie, leading to the subsequent mental shutdown that she had to be shaken out of.

When she finally snapped out of it, she found that she'd been dragged to the entrance to the inner forest courtesy of Lenora, and that a rather…flamboyant man had joined them. His hair was in a wavy pseudo afro, and he was wearing what could only be described as a red and green leotard. On instinct, she shoved Monk's Pokéball in his face. The man stared awkwardly at her from behind the ball, before Lenora kindly intervened.

"Um, yes, that's Burgh. He's the Gym Leader of Castelia City. You can challenge him after we get this taken care of, Nire." When she heard the word 'Castelia', her hand tightened on her ball for a second before retracting into her pocket. Castelia was next? Her father was in Castelia! Perspective found, she turned towards the depths of the forest and started on ahead, not bothering to wait for the others.

-THIS IS A LINE BREAK-

The forest had been much easier to navigate than suspected. Wild Pokémon and civilian trainers alike avoided the frighteningly determined and ambiguously-aged girl trudging through their midst. Those who weren't deterred couldn't get a battle from her anyway, seeing how she did everything possible to avoid eye contact.

Finding the head of this branch of Team Plasma had been even easier. They'd been dumb enough to leave behind a trail of grunts in their wake to 'cover their escape', but it only lead her straight to the leader.

She had to be honest; when she saw the leader, she very seriously considered letting out a snort of laughter. His outfit was just as garish as Ghetsis', except it lacked the castle-liked battlements on the shoulders and added a jaunty little hat. It was impossible for her to take him seriously, even when he started quoting from some book she read a long time ago. "Know your enemies, know yourself, and know you need not fear the result of a hundred battles," he said as he handed over the skull to Lenora. As he calmly walked away, she swore she heard him say something under his breath about the skull not being what they were looking for, anyway.

Both Gym Leaders smiled at her after the 'sage' was gone. They congratulated her on her hard work, but she wasn't paying attention. She was too busy staring at the sky scrapers of Castelia in the distance, thinking of what her father would say to her when he saw how strong she had become. This thought in mind, she shoved past them unceremoniously and started off in the direction of her father.

**A/N: Yes, you are going to meet Nire's father next time. No, you are not going to like him.**


	14. It's Your Daughter, Anthony!

**A/N: 4 AM inspiration is the best inspiration. Especially when I'm trying to sleep. Keeps me motivated.**

Despite how...'colorful' Nire's vocabulary could be at times, only one though came to her head when she made her way out of the last row of trees to view the skyline of Castelia City: "Wow."

Deep down, she had thought that her recollections of Castelia were tainted with the passing of time, that it couldn't have been nearly as big as her memories told her. She had been wrong. If anything, it was even bigger. Even from her distance, she could make out the passing shadows of people and cars on the street that encompassed the city, enough hustle and bustle to make her skin crawl. She knew how badly she could panic with just one tap; all the shoving that a crowd did could make her pass out at the thought alone. Even then, one thought rang in her mind: "Father is there. Father is waiting for me." With that, she meticulously tugged her gloves and ascot, her pant-legs and socks, her sleeves and collar, generally making sure that the least amount of skin possible was showing, before starting towards the bridge.

Now, Nire did not fear heights, which was lucky considering it was stick right next to the railing of the bridge or risk being touched by someone, but for once in her life she felt the world sway after glancing over the edge. That...was a long drop. Not caring about the looks she received for her vulgarity, she spat over the side and tried to listen for the sound of it splashing. No good, the crowd was too loud.

Before she felt she was adequately prepared, the entrance to the city was before her. She could hear the roar of the crowd, though it was a little hard to detect over the pounding of her own heart. She really didn't know what was wrong with her. Her visage didn't change in the slightest as she released Monk from his ball, and he stared up at her with a look somewhere between stern and concerned. They glanced at each other, and a bystander could practically hear the silent conversation between them.

'Monk, I can't do this.'

'Yes you can, my Lady. You are a strong presence, like that of a stone statue, and those who do not keep a respectful distance may taste my blade.'

She sighed silently and nodded, motioning for him to stick close to her side as she stepped out into the floodlights of the city proper.

-LIIIIIINE BREEEEAK-

Anthony Kiin gave an annoyed sigh as he pushed his light brown hair back out of his face, his equally brown eyes blinking in an attempt to keep himself awake for the walk home. Sure, he was rather high-up as far as the Battle Company went, but did they really need to keep him after-hours so many times? It was starting to piss him off. With a flick of his wrist, his fedora went on and he was on his way.

He can't say he expected to run into his daughter outside of the building. He probably wouldn't have noticed her at all, if the Dewott next to her hadn't have called. She looked just the same as she always had; clothes covering most of her body with her pale face and grey eyes peeking out behind a collar lifted far too high. She looked horribly shaken, probably from one-too-many close calls with her personal space. He couldn't help himself; he laughed.

"Your mom didn't tell me anything 'bout you getting to Castelia, kiddo! C'mon, let's get you home, you look like you've had a heart attack!" Without a word, as always, she nodded and trotted over to him, standing much closer than she would with anyone else. The Dewott came after.

"So, this your Dewott?" She nodded. Even with him, she didn't talk much. "D'ya name it?"

"...He's Monk." Her voice was rough and garbled, but Anthony understood after years of being around her.

"Monk, eh? What kinda name is that? Usually you've got some sort of logic, but Monk? The heck, kiddo?" Monk was shooting him a dirty look, which Anthony very skillfully ignored. Nire, however, didn't seem to catch any insult in her father's comment, and just nodded.

Soon enough, they were at Anthony's house, which was settled not-so-comfortably between two businesses. The house had been there first, and as far as Anthony was concerned, the zoning laws could go suck it. Nire was glad to see her second home, however, and adjusted immediately to the cramped atmosphere of the place.

"Didn't expect to see you, kiddo, so I don't got a bed ready for ya. Is the couch okay?" She just nodded, with Monk still looking angry. From how highly Nire thought of him, this guy wasn't much.

Anthony made little attempt at cleaning up the place, even with his only child there, only clearing enough crap off of the couch to make it habitable for a night. Nire didn't seem to care in the slightest, as though this had happened many times before, and curled up on the couch the instant there was enough room to harbor her. Monk jumped up next to her, curling into her side, and sent one last glower at her father before closing his eyes. Anthony just laughed, not really bothered, before heading off to his own room.

**A/N: Yeah, that's Nire's daddy. He's kind of a douche, but Nire thinks he's perfect and won't hear otherwise. Will this change later? Maybe, but not in the way you'd think. And no, I don't mean that it will get worse. **


End file.
